David maxwell



(Nomen D. MAXWELL.

RQ'OT GUTTER. No. 483,743. L Patented 0011.4, 1892.

l '4, l r l /l l l 1 /j UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID MAXVELL, OF ST. MARYS, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO DAVID MAXWELL t SONS,OF SAME PLACE.

ROOT-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 483,743, dated October4, 1892. Application filed May 5, 1892. Serial No. 431,909. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, DAVID MAXWELL, manufacturer, residing at the town ofSt. Marys,in the eountyof Perth, in the Province of Ontario, Canada,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RoocCutters, ofwhich the following is the specification.

My invention relates to improv-ements in machines for slicing andpulping roots; and the object of the invention is to design amachine ofthis class which will by merely changing the direction of rotationeither pulp or slice roots quickly and perfectly.

The invention consists in the construction hereinafter described, andparticularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which`A Figure l is a perspective View withthe side of the machine removed, showing the knives arranged in theperiphery of a drum. Fig. 2 is a view of amodiied form, showing mycombined slicing and pulping knives arranged on the face of the wheel.

In the drawings like letters of reference iudicate corresponding partsin both figures.

A is the cylinder or the wheel upon which the knives are secured. Thecylinder or wheel A is mounted on the shaft A in lthe frame of themachine and has central webs or arms A2, the hubs of which are securedto the shaft A. Said arms extend to and form a support for the cylinder.

L shows three knives B, with the intermediate spaces C.

D are elongated openings formed in the periphery of the drum or face ofthe disk, the intermediate spaces being connected together by thebridges E, to which the ends ot' the knives are secured. It will benoticed that the knives B are broad and V-shaped in crosssection and areprovided with slicing-edges ZJ and pulping-edges h', which are composedof series of sharp teeth, as shown. The knives B are provided withstrengthening or stiftening backs F and are secured to the end bridges Eby the bolts f, which pass through the backs F and bridges E, as shown.

G is the hopper into which the roots are placed. It will be noticed inFig. l that the inclined sides g g of the hopper G have pivoted midwaybetween their ends the guidingbridge H, which is pivoted at the bottomand is cut away, as shown at 7L. The guidingplate Il is designed to beswung from one to theA other of the sides g and g as desiredaand when soswung rests on ledges 11 and t7,1espectively, made to the top of theperpendicular sides I and .I ofthe hopper. It will be noticed that thesides I and J and the inclined side gare in the form of gratings, asshown, so that the dirt may escape through the gratebars when the rootsare being put into the hopper and during the period that the roots arebeing sliced or pulped against the sides I and J, respectively.

On reference to Fig. l it will be seen that when the cylinder is causedto revolve in the direction indicated by the arrow the swinging bridge Hrests upon the ledge t', so as to form a guide for depositing the rootsupon the cylinder, in order that the pulping-edges of the knives incoming around may act upon the roots in proximity to the side J, so asto pulp them, the pulp being forced through between the pulping-edges bint-o and through the opening D, from which it escapes from either sideof the' central web into the receptacle provided to receive it. When thecylinder is caused to revolve in the opposite direction to thatindicated by arrow, the guiding-bridge H is swung on its pivot so as tobring the free end against the ledge j on the top of the side J, theslicing-edges h of the knives being then designed to operate against theedge t', so as to slice the root-s. When the roots are sliced, they areforced beneath the edge and into and through the opening beneath theknives into the center ot the cylinder, from which the roots sliced aredischarged from the end ot the cylinder into the receptacle.

In Fig. 2 it will be seen that the knives are arranged on the face of adisk or wheel and are supported on bridges before the openings inasimilar manner to that shownin Fig. 1. The roots fed into the hopper Gare operated upon by the edges h to slice them when the wheel isrevolved in the direction indicated by arrow and by the edge Z1 when thewheel is revolved in the opposite direction to that indicated by arrowin order to pulp the roots, which in sys IOO

both instances pass through the wheel and are delivered into areceptacle provided for the purpose.

I am aware that it is old toprovide a sliclng-knife to operate upon theroots when the wheel is revolved in one direction and a pulping-knife tooperate upon the roots when the wheel is revolved in the oppositedirection; but heretofore the slicing-knife and pulpingknife have beenmade separate and placed alternately in position on the wheel. In thismethod of construction the roots when vplaced in the hopper rest uponthe knife, thereby holding the roots away from the surface of the Wheeland out of the circuit of the knife, so that the knives, being so closetogether, are prevented from ettectually operating upon the roots toslice or pulp them. By, however, providing the space between the knivesand forming them as hereinbefore described the roots when deposited inthe hopper are brought down to the surface of the wheel.

I nd in practice, on yaccount of the distance between the knives and theroots being brought directly against the surface of the wheel, that theknives act with much better results than in any machine for a similarpurpose of which I am aware.

What I claim as my invention isl. In a combined root pulper and slicer,a wheel provided with a series of knives, each of which is provided witha slicing and a pulping edge, the knives being supported over elongatedopenings made in the working surface of the wheel and the slicing andpulping edges beingcontiguous and slightly above the side edges of theopenings, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The Wheel A, having a series of knives B, V-shaped in cross-section,each of which is provided with a slicing-edge b and a toothedpulping-edge b and is supported over openings D by the end bridges E, towhich the knife is secured by the bolts f, as and for the purposespecified. p

3. The wheel A, having a series of knives B, V-shaped in cross-section,each of which is provided with a slicing-edge?) and a toothedpulping-edge b', supported over opening D by the end bridges E, to whichthe knife is secured by the bolts f, and is provided with astittening-back F, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination,with the wheel A, having a series of knives V-shapedin cross-section, each of which is provided with aslici'ng and a pulpingedge b and b', supported on bridges E over the openings D, of the hopperG and grated sides I and J, as and for the purpose specitied.

5. The combinatiomwitli the wheel A, having a series ot knives V-shapedin cross-section, each of which is provided with a slicing and a pulpingedge t) and b', supported on bridges E over an opening D, of the hopperGr, grated sides I and J, and the guidingplate H, arranged as and forthe purpose specied.

6. The combination, with a wheel A, having a series of knives V-shapedin cross-section, each of which is provided with a slicing and a pulpingedge b and h', supported on bridges E over an opening D, of the hopperG, grated sides I and J, and the guiding-plate H, cut away ath, as andfor the purpose specied.

7. The combination, with the wheel A, having a series of knives V-shapedin cross-section, with slicing and pulping edges b and b', supported onbridges E over the openings D, of the central web or arms A, secured tothe shaft A and having an outer end of the arms extending behind theportion C of the wheel, as Vand for the purpose specified.

DAVID MAXWELL.

Witnesses:

W. C. MoscRiP, J. W. GUERNSEY.

